I recently invested in a smart home device: Amazon Alexa to be exact. I was pretty indifferent to her initially, intending to bestow upon her the same benign neglect I’ve directed at every goldfish or house plant I’ve ever owned and eventually killed.
The holidays are a time of tradition. Some are so long standing we don’t even question them anymore. Like, I know there’s a reason we bring a live tree into our house and wrap lights and shiny, fragile things around it but I can’t remember what it is. Or turkey. Delicious, but I personally am unclear as to how stuffing, cooking and eating this particular breed of poultry became synonymous with the birth of baby Jesus.
The holidays are a time of tradition. Some are so long standing we don’t even question them anymore. Like, I know there’s a reason we bring a live tree into our house and wrap lights and shiny, fragile things around it but I can’t remember what it is. Or turkey. Delicious, but I personally am unclear as to how stuffing, cooking and eating this particular breed of poultry became synonymous with the birth of baby Jesus.
Mom bloggers get a lot of love in the digital world, but you know who else is killing it with humour, parenting wisdom, domestic tips and overall awesomeness?
DADS.
Ask anyone who’s ever shopped for a tween girl and they’ll tell you it’s one of the most fiery circles of hell you’re ever likely to encounter. Why? Because tween girls are picky. And by “picky” I mean hell hath no fury like the girl who wanted millennium pink and got pale pink kind of picky.
Just when you thought every possible angle of parenting had been explored in print, KJ Dell’Antonia has uncovered not just an important question, but possibly the central question most of us ask at some point: why can’t parenting be more fun? Or, less eloquently, why can’t it suck just a little less?
Discovering graphic novels felt a little bit like uncovering the Caramilk secret or finally understanding why my kids refuse to flush the toilet (spoiler alert: because they’re lazy).
When I tell people the bruises and lacerations covering my daughter’s body are from a golf cart accident their reactions vary. Some say, “kids will be kids, who doesn’t have a golf cart story?” and others present me with raised eyebrows and clumsily, half-heartedly, try to reassure me that I’m not a bad or neglectful parent.
With back to school just around the corner, many of our kids will be asking for increased freedom as they advance a grade; freedom to walk to and from school alone, freedom to bike to the park alone, even freedom to cross the street without holding your hand (cue sobbing).
For most of us, the ideal vacation involves not having to lift a finger. The whole point of going away is to get away from everything including the chores, the schedules and thinking about what to do next.